In the video “I Explored The Wealthiest Region In Texas,” YouTube creator Nick Johnson takes viewers on a journey through Texas Hill Country, showcasing the luxurious and extravagant side of this often overlooked region. From Fredericksburg to Bandera, New Braunfels, and San Marcos, Nick gives us a glimpse into the opulence and beauty of this part of Central Texas.
As Nick explores the area, he highlights the stunning landscapes, charming small towns, and rich history of Texas Hill Country. He explains how the region has become a popular destination for those looking to escape the hustle and bustle of big cities and find a peaceful, upscale retreat.
One of the main highlights of the video is Fredericksburg, a picturesque city with a strong German influence. Nick delves into the history of the town, its booming wine industry, and the transformation it has undergone in recent years. He discusses how Fredericksburg has become a tourist hotspot, attracting wealthy individuals and celebrities looking for a taste of luxury in the Texas Hill Country.
Despite the commercialization and rise in home prices, Nick also sheds light on the sense of community and heritage that still remains in Texas Hill Country. He talks about the German traditions, architecture, and values that have shaped the region and continue to influence its character.
Overall, “I Explored The Wealthiest Region In Texas” offers a captivating and informative look at a side of Texas that many may not be familiar with. It’s a journey through luxury, beauty, and history that will leave viewers in awe of the splendor of Texas Hill Country.
Watch the video by Nick Johnson
Get it girl what are we in Africa nope this is Texas Hill Country Mister now I had heard that this place was super fancy but this didn’t expect this this is the long neck Manor it’s a Conservation Park SL Boutique Hotel totally over the top and that’s
Why we chose to stay here show everyone how extravagant Hill countries become cuz there’s not a lot of places where you can do stuff like this in Texas Texas Hill Country is kind of a not well-known place right in the heart of Central Texas it’s unlike any other part of the
State it’s not crowded yet there isn’t any oil drilling or skyscrapers or illegal alien camps there aren’t any homeless people yet it sure is nice it sure is fancy that’s why I’m here this was the last stop on our big old Texas Adventure and I’m glad I saved this
Place for the end cuz it’s been a lot time for a break from all of that well folks this is the last stop in Texas the end of the line and as you can probably tell this Cowboy is tuckered and we’re going to mosy around Hill Country for a little bit get to
Know what it’s like in one of my favorite parts of Texas there’s some good Folks up here salt of the earth I bet they even have whiskey too You want to impress somebody in Texas tell them you live in Texas Hill Country they’ll be like damn must be nice so what is Texas Hill Country anyways well it’s this part of Central southest Texas it’s about the size of West Virginia it’s a region that’s kind of on
The border between where the American southwest ends and the southeast begins to the West it’s desert like this then you turn a corner and the mountains start and well begins to feel feel like a whole another state you don’t feel like you’re in Texas here there’s valleys and rivers
It’s just super pretty and wonderful it’s a very unique parl State probably the most pristine par State there a lot of Rolling Hills small towns farms and just nature kind of No Man’s Land for now hey guys Soul regions become one of the most popular areas that people are moving to
Now talk to people who are leaving their overpriced and overcrowded hoods and they’ll be like we’d love to live in Texas Hill Country one day that’d be great the whole area is boomed so much that the gap between Austin and San Antonio might get all filled in all of
This they say one day this will all be one big giant metro area I know we’re going to ruin something else there’s a lot of smaller cities scattered throughout the Hill Country these days if you’re not from Texas you might not have heard of many of them new
Bron Falls Dripping Springs Bernie Lano a lot of the Cities up here in Hill Country might make sense for a family you’d be close enough to a big city to justify the commute and it’s kind of familyfriendly there’s things to do but not Fredericksburg forget about that notion this place has been found
And it’s been turned into a big racket this is going to kind of be the opposite of many of the stories I tell this isn’t a tale of a city being ruined by Decay and crime and laziness and a loss of jobs uh-uh this one’s about too much
Success there’s a 11,000 people in Fredericksburg now it’s not really growing very fast but it’s changing a lot for a long time this was just kind of a smallish Little Village tucked away in the Texas hillsides 50 years ago it was a no stoplight gas station on every corner kind of
Place and then some people figured out how nice it was here and a bunch of antique stores opened up then one day somebody said hey we can grow wine here pretty well and then that was it folks today it’s the second largest wine region in the country only behind
Napa and some are now calling this the Aspen of Texas this is sort of a tourist trap playground for the rich thing nowadays Fredericksburg is more La La Land than anything else they say there’s a 100 fine restaurants and 150 fancy shops here most of the upscale stuff is right here along Main
Street downtown has all the things you’d expect to find in an upscale touristy place with a lot of history it was called the most picturesque city in the country like see why everybody talks about the architecture here well it’s German the whole area was settled by
Germans for the most part and 40% of the population here still has German ancestry look at that map I know right why did the Germans come here well I’ll tell you in the 1830s Germany was kind of a crummy place to live a lot of people wanted religious and political freedoms
So they came to America a bunch of their influential leaders wound up making their way to this part of Texas and then they rode home and they were like this place is amazing so they settled all these little towns and cities that we see all over the
Region by the 1900s 5% of Texans were German the Germans brought in all their Traditions their music their food their belief in public education and their belief in community over the individual it was a lot of stuff that pioneers of the American West did not believe
In they built churches and they built a bunch of buildings that are still standing today and they made a lot of them out of the Limestone they found in the Hills nearby even though Frederick’s Berg’s been ruined by commercialism you can see they’re still trying to make it look somewhat like the old
Days waterburger looks nice a limestone waterburger what the old Inn looks nice the bank the convenience store the HB they all have Limestone looking stuff they all look very German don’t they even the Walmart has Limestone even the Chinese place sadly though a lot of the German
Influence is no longer with us here tourism and wealthy people have deluded almost all of it out of Here now Fredericksburg isn’t a very rich place but it’s expensive to live here home prices just topped 500 Grand on average and good luck finding something for sale without a big bidding war you got to have some real scratch to live up here now there’s a lot of Rich celebrity
Types that have homes up here they say there’s more millionaires per capita right here than any other region in Texas most people just can’t afford to move here anymore it just doesn’t make sense and then the people that have lived here for a long time they’re being pushed out by people with deeper
Pockets all the tourism workers they have to drive in from who knows where teachers nurses cops firefighters none of them can afford to live here anymore Back in the Day Fredericksburg was much more intimate and small Towny everybody knew their neighbors and people felt like they belonged people
Volunteered and took pride in the place everybody knew each other and they look forward to the flowers in the spring and then the peaches in the summer there were parades and county fairs and it all felt very Americana it was a middle class place where even the wealthy people lived a
Frugal lifestyle and were discreet about their finances not anymore though I heard that in some of the neighborhoods like this there might be maybe one or two houses that somebody actually lives in fulltime the rest are all short-term rentals and second homes the middle class here is being sent away
Packing a local realtor in town told me he thinks Fredericksberg is on the brink of a crisis because of the soaring property prices good Lord does it ever end look at some of these listings this one is 8 million bucks and it has five bedrooms and three bathrooms and it’s
5,000 square ft 8 million bucks and then check this place out 2.2 million for that what is happening this is kind of place that old old old money lives now and to them all this stuff is just a guest house just somewhere to go for the
Weekend a lot of the ranches outside of town they’re being sold off to developers the kids inherit them and they’re like what do I want a ranch I don’t want this so they sell it out going be putting big old homes out here one day you’re just driving around you see
Really pretty nature and rolling Countryside and I’m like are the rich people going to come out here and just tear all this down and just build impressive stuff as far as you can see the answer is probably yes so I asked somebody at the visitors bureau I was like where’s the cheap
Homes in town she was like like there aren’t any LOL Nick they’re all overpriced now I mean there’s some streets where stuff isn’t completely outrageous but more and more they’re getting snagged up and fixed up and flipped and sold I did my best to find the most
Regular Street in town like the bad side of town here it is just about everything on this Street’s more than 600 Grand looks just like a regular Street to me it’s not even that fancy but I have to say it is super nice here you can’t deny that it’s really
Pretty it’s very safe they have a huge tax base because of all the tourists like me it’s just a rich person’s playground up here there’s golf courses all over some golf courses cost a 100,000 a year in dues most of the rich people they don’t even live here year round they take in
Their private jets from all over they come to town they pound wine eat German food buy expensive hats and then go home after the weekend Hill Country is a lot more than just Fredericksburg though that’s just the most well-known fancy place here now I’m going to show you a lot of
The other stops we took in Hill Country in another video but briefly there’s new Bron Falls it’s one of the many booming BBS in the San Antonio metro area we drove around for a little bit we saw their little downtown it’s very nice and quiet probably not for long though
And nearby Sam Marcos and another BB called Bernie out this way just middle class people trying to get away from the big cities then we turned a corner one day came across a place called Fisher Texas and I saw the Devil’s Backbone Tavern I was like stop the car not kind of
Place there’s been a lot of cowboy boys and cow girls that have had their hearts broken in this little Honky Tonk I wish I was there to see it full throat they don’t make them like this anymore it’s last bit of Texas left my favorite place in Hill Country
Was a little town called Bandera population 800 I think they call this the cowboy capital of the world I’m going to show you a lot more of band in another video video but this place is my kind of place and man they love them some Trump
In this part of Texas we found a whole store that’s just Trump look at that did you know Trump stole the election I think you mean that Joe Biden stole the election Mappy no I mean the first one he shouldn’t have won that Russ helped now you better keep them
Words out of your mouth or there’s going to be fire on you Donald Trump is a man of his word he’s a man of Faith just like me and he’s always had us Cowboys backs and you stay off of that Facebook it’s ruining your damn mind look at this place Yeehaw
Saloon is brand new my kind of place Fredericksburg it’s so new they don’t even have the grain bin thing all the way set up yet Yeehaw everybody okay so there’s no ghettos to film here I know I know you’re disappointed so we spent a lot of time
Checking out all the things to do here cuz I mean that’s what makes place so popular now the experiences one day we went beer and wine tasting our first stop was the Yeehaw Saloon Buck you we’ll Buck you too damn it total Fredericksburg fake old Texas tourist trap but cool
Anyways they got all the things you can shoot in Texas hung on those walls well not that one but I don’t think the tourists know the difference now next door I got my first taste of Hill Country tourist fashion there’s an overpriced Boutique to get your all hat no cattle gear
Tourists love this stuff oh my God can you imagine that with my jacket Texas Hill Country where you can get blasts like that for only $49.95 as soon as you leave Hill Country it gets rural pretty fast super neat landscape out here with a mix of Rolling Hills and
Farms the most famous part of Thea area are all the wineries there must be 50 wineries in this area now some of the wineries are actual wineries with Vineyards some are really fancy and some are regular Joe it’s really hit and miss I learned that the annoying
Way first place we pulled into is a place called Grape Creek Vineyards that somebody in town told us we needed to go see this place was fancy you know what they treat tourists like here I don’t know if they’re trying to run the tourists out and make it like this
Exclusive place for locals only but you can’t just show up and taste some wine and look out over The Vineyards and watch the sunset here nope if you want to sit outside and have some wine you got to pay big bucks join as a member the wine member Club only then can you
See the sunset we got that Vibe many places we went to I was like like who do you think you are you’re not Napa damn it anyways we left there and we drove around to many other places all we wanted to do was find a patio glass of
Wine and watch the sunset we hadn’t seen the sun in two days so we finally settled on this place we pulled in it’s called Baron’s Creek seemed more normal they said we could sit outside and you know what this was pretty nice they have a nice Patty very
Charming the Instagram people all come here to take their picks I saw a lot of that in fredicksburg I think that’s why most people come to the Fred so they can say they came but then I wandered past the Instagram Duo after that wasn’t funny
Anymore and I was like I’m going to see their Vineyard so this place feels very elite and $15 aass glass you feel feels very important and stuffy and snobby and then you come out here Fredericksburg has a lot of work to do on their wine scene now I’m not a wine
Snob but when you come to a winery and it’s Sunset and it’s expensive and it’s famous you expect to see big billowing fields of grape Vineyards off into the distance and just classy and there’s literally next door is like trailer park land and then you’ve got like whatever that is and then
Like this is it this is their this is their Vineyard out here and goats not romantic and not pretentious but you think it would be based on how they treat you and how everybody’s dressed up and everyone’s posing and in their best clothes and very stuffy inside feels
Very important and this is the vineyard right here this is funny welcome to Fredericksburg and I don’t see a single grape on these sorry little Vines but it’s a beautiful night no complaints I’m sorry after some wine I just thought that was so giggly and then look at their member
Only area here this doesn’t look very exclusive to me but they have a flat screen TV and the bathroom’s nice here look at the bathrooms in here have candles anyways I just had to point this out because I’d heard all about the winery scene here everybody’s like oh my
God Hill Country has these beautiful Wineries and they’re like so amazing I did see a lot of really pretty Wineries and saw some really neat stuff but everybody here was so snobby and full themselves and to be honest the Wine’s really not that good
Either if I had had ever been to a real winery before I guess I’d be impressed but I was not so we went back downtown on night one everybody said you got to go to Autos it’s this famous German beastro well we walked all the way down
There and we ended up not going in cuz frankly it didn’t look like a lot of fun but then we heard some music down the road and so we went here instead now this was a lot of fun it’s called the Silver Creek it’s right on the main Drag you never even call me My of course we had to get German food our first night we were here I went with the German sausage plate which had BR worst and knock worst and pepper worst all the worst and look at the complicated German beer list I was like I can’t even pronounce
That so I asked the guy can I please get a German beer in one of those big German mugs and a shot of German chocolate cake and the next day for breakfast we got more German Fair we went to the old German Bakery and Restaurant downtown and this place is a scene
Sunday morning and everybody wanted in I went with the German sausage omelette the German potatoes German pancakes the German coffee and the German water I was disappointed by the German pancakes they don’t really have any flavor unless you add sugar and lemon juice to them then there good to Frederickburg
So after breakfast got a German beer we walked around to look at all the shopping yes you can drink on the streets here now the shopping here I could do a whole video just on the shopping tourist Elite is the best way I can describe it just a bunch of crap you
Don’t need but you’re here so you want it ba Farmhouse and kitchi Galore every place we went into smelled like cinnamon and pumpkin spice and had so much unnecessary it was overwhelming I thought it was silly looking good Fredericksburg they have German Steins no one needs
That but you got to have one you’re in fburg they have hats here that I think were very poorly designed am I the only one that thinks that they designed that terribly and then all the boots that probably only Rich tourists buy look at that they are
Expensive this place actually had a sign in the window don’t take pictures was like okay I won’t I’m not going to show your boots to a million people promise one of the tourist traps we walked into had lone Stars iced down in a cooler I was like now that’s my
Speed before we came I asked somebody what downtown Fredericksburg was like she told me it’s like a country Urban Magnolia Disneyland now whatever that means going to put you in it that night went out for a drink at the Crossroad Saloon which is apparently a big deal downtown
But they were rude there too it’s just another overthe toop trying too hard to be old Texas joint and I was like why is everybody so rude here people that work here tourists everybody had a damn attitude so anyway we wound up settling on a much more Chill Spot called the
Aldorf beard garden with the Tea my Girl i’ rather drink your Money and of course more German that’s spota with cheese in it it was maybe the best thing I had on the entire trip except for the tacos I had in Austin like day four look at this this is totally Fred our first two nights we stayed in a
Place called The Wine Country Cottages it was a blast it’s this little cottage Village it’s just a few blocks walk from downtown and they put us up in the Petite Chateau What this little chatau wonderful little place just blocks from Main Street and man are they good they left us these German pastries in the room I texted them and I was like what is this heavenly concoction she told me they’re called sweet German pretzels I was like I love
These I tried to find another place in town that had them and I could not German beer it’s okay German worsts they’re okay but the Germans sure do know how to make sweets and by the way if you want to learn about where you should live you
Should go to my website homes snacks.com slind your place on my website you get tips on where you should move and what the kasar and a whole lot more it’s like an AI Nick Johnson consultation for free plus there’s gear that you can buy and more that’s homes snacks.com slind yourplace
Try it today and I’m on Cameo too if you want me to send you or somebody you know a personalized video message go to Cameo and search Nick Johnson YouTube it’s fun and now back to the show are there any scraps no well that we can
Get them out of and then there’s the long neck Manor that’s the place I showed you at the beginning now this place is over the top kind of like a circus it’s very exclusive they only have a few Villas on site they want to
Keep it that way they want to make it a very intimate up close with nature kind of place and they put us in the TGA Villa and y’all this is the Villa that we’re in called TGA and check this place out and right outside your door rhinos right outside your back door hey
Guys yes rhinos and giraffes right off your back porch you’re the most spoiled rhinos in the whole country I bet they’re spoiled and so were we this one even decided to pose look at all that poop need more than a shovel to clean up after them though morning time with the
Tractor now you get really up and close with the animals they have four giraffes and three rhinos on the property oh look at this and they all know what they’re doing we got to feed and pet the giraffes first here I am feeding Betty she’s a good girl feet up you think
And look here comes the baby giraffe running over when my manager offered her some lettuce her name is ke like kjaro her a little pet on her little nose well I’m going to feed her first cuz she came over to me bring you made us a painting
What lucky oh my goodness this is you are the most spoiled giraffe in the whole us can I shoot it please well Mappy normally I’d say they’re protected but I’m kind of curious to know what they taste like myself but we better leave them alone shouldn’t act like Savages out here
Where they’re guess and all what about the Rhino though they have three rhinos here Fred Barney and Justin and we got to spend some time with Fred they put some hay out to make him kind of hang out over byas he’s super cool you pet him kind of feels like
You’re playing with an old purse filled with sand I think my manager liked the Rhinos more than I did I got to make a rhino painting that was cool they said it was the best Rhino painting they’d ever seen I think they were just saying that
Though and then my manager had to clean up the paint I think she wanted a rhino after that trip just take a baby rhino home in the bag with us put it on the plane and then I got to kiss a giraffe looks to me like the other one was a little bit
Jelly so giraffes and rhinos are slowly becoming extinct the long neck manner’s goal is to grow their Animal Pop ation and provide an intimate experience with the animals it’s wonderful place and by the way that’s Valkyrie she’s the best guide ever and then at the end they were like
You want to come play with the sloth and I was like you’re a sloth his name’s Bruno and he licks dirt after we fed him his morning vegetable breakfast it was back to bed for Bruno what a trip Rhino so on my last morning on this
Texas trip I had coffee and hung out with rhinos I know pretty good last day huh sitting out here on this preserve you don’t really feel like you’re in Texas I liked Fredericksburg and I liked Texas kind of I saw a lot of change and growth and
Complaining and bad stuff in this state but there’s some good here too I’m just glad I waited until the last day to come visit with these animals and to spend time out here in nature like this it would have been a really crummy way to end the trip if I
Ended up in Fifth Ward in Houston looking at bums in Austin or watching illegal alien ions climb into our country by the thousands and what a trip look at the odometer when we first picked up the rental back in Austin a month ago and look at it
Now and here’s the final map of where we went Tred to cover as much as we could in a month I think we did a pretty good job as we got on the plane the final night in Austin I thought you know what I don’t really think I need to come back here
Again I mean I love to meet some Fort Worth and there were parts of Houston that I liked and there were some highlights along the coast but is Texas amazing no I don’t feel like I’m going to miss it here like I did out west I can go
Back to Wyoming and Montana and Idaho all over again to me Texas just seems like a regular place now well folks that’s just about it the Texas Adventure is over now there’s not enough I can say about my home state place is still wonderful but clearly it’s changed and that ain’t
Good now a partner and I are going to saddle up and mosy on down to our next journey I hear we’re going to Wisconsin next well hell it’s cold up there so I should probably switch my cover and throw on this see you there folks so long neck Manor is the fruition
Of our owner and founder Rick baran’s life goals he spent about 50 years in the animal care and conservation industry he was the director of the Houston Zoo for about 18 years he was also one of the lead Disney imagineers who put in the Animal Kingdom at um
Florida so this is his life work his passion he’s been um in the conservation animal community for a very long time and has garnered um a very well-received reputation within that industry and instead of making a one-time donation that would have done a lot of good he decided he wanted to create something
That would live on in perpetuity and continue to educate people and be able to support our conservation efforts for years and years to come it’s great that we can bring people here and share the conservation message and educate them and get them excited about animals um
But it’s also wonderful that we can keep raising money and donating money and putting boots on the ground in Africa and Asia to preserve these species and that’s one of the greatest things about long neck manner is that not only do you get to come and have a wonderful
Experience with the animals choose to stay in one of our overnight accommodations but even when you visit us just for the day a portion of your ticket goes straight to our conservation partners and these are partners that our owner Rick Banji has built a personal relationship with over the years it’s
Not someone that we read about and we’re just sending a blank check to them um he’s actually visiting Africa quite quite often throughout the year and hand delivering the monies that we raise we know exactly where your money is going to the boots for the Rangers the water
Hole that it helps build the new fencing at these facilities so we’re really proud that we can show people exactly where your money is going and how it’s being spent so that you really feel an ownership and a direct connection to what you’re helping preserve Howdy Folks it’s been a good
Time here in fredicksburg in Hill Country drinking my whiskey in my hot tub go on get are you looking to move and need advice I do Consulting that’s right I’ll sit down and talk about where the next perfect place for you and your family should be I do it all the time
Together let’s find you a new home that’s safe and checks all your boxes and I can also help you find your new house too email me and I’ll work with you on not just helping you figure out where to move but I can help you find your perfect home too that’s right I
Know awesome reliable agents all over the country and I’d love to connect you to somebody who can help you search for that perfect home hey guys if you learned something new about America or what it’s like to live in America great you should think about subscribing and turning on your notifications you can
Also click one of these videos or playlists for more this is Sage Nick manager this has been a cornerhouse entertainment production
Video “I Explored The Wealthiest Region In Texas” was uploaded on 03/08/2024. Watch all the latest Videos by Nick Johnson on Gretopia